CYCLING STYLE: Safety first.

My good friend Annie Angello requested a recurring guest blog entry on cycling style for her publication, Yay Bikes!.

As far this topic's relation to SUCCESSTICATED goes, I would honestly say that my enjoyment for biking came from making it my own thing and not subscribing to the spandexed monkey-butt look unless a trip requires such gear. I discovered that riding a bike and self-expression do not have to be mutually exclusive. Thus, happiness has ensued.

Let's start with the basics necessary for safety:

HELMET - This is a must for safety. It took a while for my helmet to stop feeling weird, but now it feels weird to ride without one! I am in love with Bern's Berkeley model, which includes a removable visor that allows me to wear thicker hats in the winter.

BACKPACK - I like my Camelback backpack for its size, functionality, and color. Despite being small, it fits a change of clothes, running shoes, and my lunch with the usual stow of a U-lock, repair kit, credentials, and an iPhone. Note how the purple matches my helmet and coordinates well with the orchid hue of my bike.

WATER BOTTLE -  Obviously crucial for avoiding dehydration, the water bottle can also be used to make a statement. I find that my vessels tend to match my color scheme.

SHOES - With shoes, flat, sturdy, and close-toed is the way to go! Boots are really good for the colder months, and a slight heal can help grip your pedals. 


Got style tips to share? List 'em below!

DON'T PANIC!: Boston Edition - Part 2

Last week, I mentioned anxiety over running the 2014 Boston Marathon. To sum it up, veni vidi vici!

2014 RiffRaff Unicorn Mafia

Boston itself was a lovely place to prep for the race -- Italian food at every corner, including gelato and pastries. Plus, there was so much to see during my short trots around the North End, Back Bay, and Cambridge areas -- historic buildings, statues, old-school ships, and gorgeous campuses galore.

The night before the race left me a little worried, as I'm not 100% sure I digested the chicken/risotto/mozzarella combo I ate for dinner. Nonetheless, I got a good, hard night's sleep and woke up  to guzzle water at 4:30 a.m. I continued to hydrate until my husband left me at the bus loading zone, which was about a mile's walk away.

The ride to Hopkinton seemed to take hours. All I could think about was, "Damn, I have to run all of this way back?" When we finally got there, I was ushered into the Athlete's Village, where I found COFFEE and a port-a-potty. Perfect combo!

After I got my fill at the Village, I ventured out to find Karen and warmth on one of the fancier buses. An hour later, it was time for Wave 2 to gather. By happenstance, we ran into Sassy, Rob, and Panther, who I stuck with for the mile-or-so walk to the starting line and several miles beyond.

Every minute after that was a blur. We all took off at a comfortable pace, which must have been too fast since Panther kept telling us to slow down. I recall uninterrupted lines of people cheering, holding signs or with hands stretched out for a high-five. The energy never slowed, and it kept me going even when the voices in my head started freaking out about the number of miles I had left to go.

The "plan" stayed forefront -- take it easy through mile 16, then be prepared for a challenge before the downhill slope into the heart of Boston. For the first 12 miles, I felt like I was floating. I passed a guy wearing an Auburn shirt at some point just to tell him ROLL TIDE!

The minute it stopped feeling easy, I downed a gel pack and tuned into the crowd. Occasionally, I felt tears welling up as I tried to process each moment. I  recall seeing some really inspiring runners, some without limbs or who were visually impaired -- totally undeterred and running strong!

I really can't recount most of what happened for the next 12 miles, but I do remember Heartbreak Hill -- long and steady, but nothing someone coming from Austin couldn't conquer.

By mile 24, I was dying and thinking to myself, "Okay, climb the wall. MUST. NOT. GIVE. UP." I downed my fourth goo of the day and powered through.

I saw Justin (my husband) right before rounding the corner to the finish line. His smile gave me just the boost I needed to pick up speed to the finish line. Panther caught up to me not long after I crossed and told me I finished around 03:22 -- and he was right! At a chip time of 03:22:08, I PR'd by almost two minutes. That notion was enough to distract me from the way-too-long walk to the post-race water stop.

Aside from finishing strong, the second biggest win of the day was celebrating with the RiffRaff team, followed by making it up the four flights of stairs to our rented brownstone apartment.

Boston, you were a blast!

DON'T PANIC!: Boston Edition

This coming Monday, I'm running my fourth marathon. It also happens to be the Boston Marathon, and I'm all sorts of nervous.

Luckily, I have a pack this time. I stumbled upon a few unicorn-clad running types at a bar a few months ago and mustered up an introduction.  From that point on, I was roped in for Tuesday evening runs as a RiffRaffian and a future member of the Unicorn Mafia. Yay, friends! Fast friends -- who love to run and drink good beer as much as I do!

While having a support group certainly raises my marathon preparation bar quite a bit, there are several areas I need to focus on in order to make Boston a successful race. I'm still on the fence about what I want successful to mean this time -- another qualifying time? a PR? a fun experience? a pain-free recovery? a box checked off my bucket list?

At least two of these goals are mutually exclusive. In any case, I rarely make a conscious decision about my performance until I'm at the starting line. Of course, there are plenty of precautions that can be taken to make sure I can go the 26.2 mile distance between Hopkinton and the heart of Boston:

1) Train. I took a bad spill on my bike back in October that derailed my training plans for a few months. Because I was also looking toward the Austin Marathon in February, I managed to squeeze in peak mileage a la the Hal Higdon method in December and January:

5-7 miles M, T, W, Th, F, Sa
10+ miles on Sundays, adding 2 miles each week and alternating long run weeks once I hit 18 miles.

I tracked many of my routes on MapMyRun.

2) Eat well. Eating 10 oz. of of queso the day before the Austin Marathon was a disaster. I cramped up almost immediately after the run began and spent at least 5 minutes of the race in a porta-potty. Just thinking about it makes me hurt. This time I'll focus on carb-loading and won't overdo it on the dairy. Oddly enough, Thai and Chinese food the night before have produced my best results.

3) Sleep well. As a self-proclaimed insomniac, I struggle with falling asleep and staying asleep. The best way to solve the struggle with sleeplessness is to throw anxiety out of the window. This is easier said than done, but an early bedtime accompanied by Justin snuggles and a predictable movie are the best remedies.

5) Find a pacer. This worked so well at Big Sur a year ago after I hit my wall halfway through the race. I started off way too fast, but I settled in with the 03:25:00 pace group to finish. A few of my running buddies from RiffRaff are going for a similar pace, so fingers crossed on holding steady!

6) Zone out. I treat running like meditation and tend to get stuck somewhere between my subconscious and the road for a few hours at a time. If I fall out of my "zone", running turns into a painful, huff-and-puff, physically exhausting feat. I'd much rather glide on air while contemplating daydreams.

Ready or not -- five days to go! LET'S DO THIS. Do you have long distance running tips? Please share 'em!

Teachers are my heroes.

I'm interrupting this week's update with a shameless plug: stay tuned for a monthly fashion column on my friend Annie's blog, YAY BIKES!

In other news, I'd like to reflect on a very important lesson I learned last week: don't be a parrot.

I stuck my foot really deep in my mouth during my group run.  Mind you, this is a super fun motley crew I joined one month ago in an effort to make friends. Needless to say, I was still stamping out first impressions and this one was a nose dive...

A few runners-who-also-happened-to-be-teachers struck up a conversation about their respective school systems. I recognized one of the schools as a deterrent in my husband's and my choice of neighborhood, as we read online reviews that the district "wasn't very good". 

Those quoted words spewed from my mouth with little thought of it possibly offending one of the teachers. She explained very politely that, sure, it's something people say -- but her experience has been the contrary.

And why wouldn't it be? It was easy to recognize that she was an impassioned individual who genuinely cared about her students' successes. The socioeconomic factors at play had nothing to do with how "good' a school is when great teachers like her run the classrooms. 

This faux pas served as a reminder that I should always question the source and observe the Truth (big T) firsthand. I was also reminded how much respect I have for teachers and their diligence, patience, and selflessness. I wouldn't be half the person I am today without my own teachers' encouragement through the years, and I should never forget the impact educators have on their students' futures.

To my running friend and all other teachers out there -- thank you for everything you do!

Be constructive!

In my last post, I explained how a piece of constructive criticism and associated advice pretty much saved my professional life. As painful as it was to hear, the feedback my instructor offered was invaluable.

I'm going to gripe a little here -- I get really annoyed when someone offers negative feedback without adding a suggested solution. Destructive criticism is not only harsh, but it can often be pointless and even counterproductive. 

The provision of useful feedback can be used to crush the blame game as well. Finger pointing tends to be largely ineffectual, and it's a great way to make people not like you. I would hope one would focus on how to fix the fault rather than focus on who's at fault. Tearing others down by associating them with a mishap, mistake, or missed goal is not going to solve any problem. Bypass the blame by providing a way to move forward.

And then you have your two-faced critics who mutter discontent to everyone but to whom would matter the most -- the ones they find discontenting. For the sake of progress, please be direct and offer advice where you see fit! All the while, be gentle and keep open-minded opinions while focusing on the real goal(s) at hand.

Obvious stuff, right? I'd like to make it a point this week to put my own constructive criticism to action, and I encourage others to follow -- for our constant leap into improvement.

To make it easier, here are some wonderfully cheesy illustrations and tips on how to criticize constructively.